Andrew Wilson, the president of EA Sports, explains that the FIFA series had a poor reputation and how the team decided to turn that around in order to become the force it is today.
There was a time, not too long ago, when EA Sports was a studio struggling to compete with Konami when it came to football simulation titles. Pro Evolution Soccer or Pro Evo or PES, whichever you prefer to call it, was ‘the’ football game to play with its
fluid ball movements and relatively lower reliance of animations.
FIFA was slated for being too robotic and at times almost scripted, while Pro Evo was the played in nearly every household that held even a fleeting interest in football.
Andrew Wilson, the President of EA Sports, explains that the studio was advised to copy their competitor’s game and use their own marketing to take it to the next level. He said, “The easiest thing that could be done and certainly what a lot of people were
telling us was ‘Pro Evolution Soccer is a great game, just copy them and then you’ll win on marketing! It’s a sure fire way to win.”
It seemed logical enough; FIFA always had the better presentation when it came to the two games as it held a majority of the licenses.
Wilson also explained that he hesitated when he was offered the job at EA Sports due to the poor reputation the studio and the FIFA series had, not only among outsiders but in the studio as well, “Because we weren’t, as a company, building a great game.”
Harsh words, yet the studio has turned things around since then and Wilson puts it down to how they changed their approach and began hiring developers from around the world.
“We were like the UN (United Nations) of game developers, but we were all unified around a passion for football. And I think that was the first step.”
Apart from the cheeky remark on the lack of unity and passion in the United Nations, the developer also explained that they started things from the basics and worked their way forward. The revamp and change in strategy seemed to have worked as FIFA 12 became
the studio’s best-selling game in history.
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